Vacuum lifting apparatus.



H. K. HITCHCOCK & w. 1. GOLIGHTLY.

VACUUM LIFTING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED JULY I8. I91].

Patented Mar. 4, 1919. 4 SHEETS-SHEET I WITNESS ATTORN EVS.

H. K. HITCHCOCK & W. J. GOLIGHTLY. VACUUM LIFTING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED JULY 18,19H.

1,296,079. Patented Mar. 4,1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2- H. K. uncncucx ai. w, 1. GOLIGHTLY. VAQUUM- LI-FTING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED J-ULY 18.191?- 1,296,079. Patented Mar. 4,1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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ATTORNEYS.

H. K- HITCHCOCK & W. J. GOLIGHTLY- VACUUM LIFTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION man JULY l8. Ian.

Patented Mar. 4, 1919.

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HALBEBT x. HITOHGOGK, or PITTSBURGH, rEN sY'nvAN-Im 1- GOLIGHTLY, or KOKOMO, INDIANA, ASSIGNORS To" PITTSBURGH rm comm, A CORPORATION or PENNSYLVANIA.

VACUUM LIF'IING APP To all whom it may concern:

' of Indiana,

Be it known that we, HALBERT K. HITCH- cooK and WnmmM J Gonrcn'rnn'both citizens of the United States, residing, respectively, at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, and Kokomo, in the county of Howard and State have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vacuum Liftin Apparatus, of which the following is a speclfication,

l The invention relates to vacuum lifting apparatus for handling .sheets of glass. It has for its principal objects; the provision of improved means improved means for avoiding jar or accident 1n case the operating'motor is .notstopped at embodiment of the j .m' the accompanying drawings, wherein- .25

is pivoted to the sup toftilt the lifting moved exactly the right point;'and the provision of improved means on the apparatus whereby the positioning of the glass in the plaster of the grinding table is facilitated. One invention is illustrated Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus, the lower portion of which is broken away; Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of a detail'; Fig. 3 showsin plan and side elevation the vibrator employed; Fi 4 is a section through the vibrator of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of a portion of the apparatus on an enlarged scale as compared with-Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a plan view of the apparatus with the tilting lifting frame from the vertical position of Fig. 1 to a-horizontal position; and Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view of the wiring.

The a paratus is 'designed for carrying sheets 0 glass, particularly plate glass, from oint to point and for settm them in the p aster u on the grinding ta les girl eparatory to t e grindmg operation. e

ody of the a paratus comprises a supporting frame a apted to be suspended from above u on a crane, and a lifting frame provide with the usual vacuum cups which occupiv either a vertlcal position or 2111011- zonta position, the latter position being the one assumed when the sheet of glass is being positioned upon a table; In order supporting "frame an electric motoriis provi ed, which motoroperates through a for securing the move- 'ments of the tilting frame; the provision of and '6, both frames porting frame and may ries the plate 21 and the rame with respect to the TUS.

treme of its tilting movement with the motor still in operation. The train of gears ing includes reducing means comprising "a set of spur gears and a worm gear.- .The motor also drives a vibrating devlce which Patented Mar. 4, 1919. 1 Application filed m 1a, 1917. Serial No. 181,232.

is adaptedto give the lifting frame lateral movement back and forth to facilitate the setting of the sheet of glass in the plaster, and clutch means are provided so that either the friction drive or the vibrator may be thirl'iiwn out of connection or connected at w Referring to Fig. 1, the reference numeral 1 indicates the lifting frame provided with the plurality of vacuum cups 2, and 3 is the supporting frame having the loop 4 at its upper end for connection with a crane or other suitable transferring mechanism. The method of construction of the two frames will be understood by reference to Figs. 5

being built up of commercial sections secured together in any suitable manner. The lifting frame 1- is connected to thesupporting frame by means of the pivot bar 5 and is provided with a segmental gear 6 driven from the spur gear 7 carried upon the supporting frame 3.

The frame 3 carries the electric motor 8 Which drives the spur gear 7 through a train of reducing gearing shown in Figs. 1,- 5 and 6. The shaft 9 of the motor (Fig. 5) drives the shaft 10 through the spur gears 11, 12, 13 and 14, the gears 12 and 13 being carried by the counter-shaft 15. The shaft 10 is provided with a worm 16 shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 4 and this worm drives a worm wheel 17 carried on the shaft 18 at right angles to the shaft 10.

The shaft 18 carries the spur gear 7 heretofore referred to as meshing with the seg- -mental gear 6, and also carries the friction driving means, such mechanism being shown in detail in Fig. 2. The shaft 18 has keyed to it a sleeve .19 which carries one set of friction disks. This set of friction disks is normally forced to the left by means of the spring" 20 in the sleeve 19' which spring-car- 9 bolts attached thereto and secured to the friction disks to the left. The spur gear 7 has an integral sleeve 22 carrying the other set of friction disks, so that with the arrangement above specified, the spur gear 7 is normally frictionally driven from the shaft 18. In order to release this friction drive it is necessary to move the plate 21 to the right to compress the spring- 20 and move the disks carried by the inner sleeve 21 away from the other disks, and this is accomplished by means of the solenoid 23 operating upon the endof the lever 24. When the solenoid is energized the upper end ofthe lever 24 is moved to the right, thus releasing the friction con-. nection. Any type of friction drive might be employed at this point, no claim of novelty being made for the particular con-' nection illustrated and described.

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate in detail the vibrator device, which vibrator device is located at the lower end of the shaft 10 (Fig.

5). The vibrator comprises a disk 25 provided with a transverse undercut slot 26 in which is slidably mounted a block 27.

This block is adjustable transversely of the disk by means of a screw 38 passing through a lug 39 integral with the disk. ,The block 27 has integral with it the disk portion 40 in which the lower end of the shaft 10 turns loosely (Fig. 4) such disk portion resting upon the bearin 41 secured to the supporting frame 3. A so mounted upon the shaft and. keyed thereto, is the armature 42 provided with the winding 43. When the wmd ing 43 i energizedby the passage of current the disk is drawn up close to it and the two rotate together, thus rotating the disk 25. If the block 27 is eccentric with respect to the disk 25 a' lateral vibratory moveplaster.

. causes the shaftlO to rotate at a high speed, i

-brator 25 remains stationary. The util-' thus rotating the vibrator disk 25 and givmg the frame a lateral vibratory movement tending to'j settle the glass in the plaster. At thls time,""while t he vibratory motion is be-' mg imparted to the frame the solenoid 23 shown 1n Fig. 2 is energized, thus releasing the magnetic clutch at this point so that there is no tendency to rotate thelifting frame, and the motor acts entirely as a motive force for operating the vibrator. The vibrator is operated only when it is desired to set the glass in the plaster and at other times the armature 42 is not energized and the viity of the vibrator device will be apparent, as will'also that of the friction drive shown in Fig. 2, which friction drive operates to prevent jarring when the lifting frame reaches the end of its travel, and also permits the driving connection, to be broken when it is desired to operate the motor to secure the vibration. Other advantages incident to the construction will be readily apparent tothose skilled in the art.

The electrical connections are illustrated in Fig. 7 wherein the frame -1 is shown as provided with an insulating plate 44 carrying a contact-plate 45 and a contact bar 46, while the frame 3 is provided with a pair of contacts 47 and 48 mounted upon the arm 49, and with another pair of contacts 50"and- 51 mounted upon the arm 52. The arrangement is such that when the frame 1 reaches a horizontal position the windin of the solenoid 23 is automatically laced in circuit to release'the clutch shown in Fig.2, while at the same time thewindin 43 of the clutch shown inFig. 4 is also tpl aced in circuit to secure the operation of e vibrator, so that the motor is relieved of all work except the operation of the vibrator. The movement of the controlling switch to its neutral position cuts off all current to the motor, while a further movement to its other extreme position causes a reversal of the path of the our-- rent through the motor and cuts off the sup ply of current to the clutch winding. T

The foregoing operation will be understood by further reference to Fig. 7, wherein the switch 53 is shown as carrying, a sector 54 having a contact plate 55 which is engaged by the contact members 56 and 57.

If the switch 53'is moved from the neutral position shown to its left hand position,'current passes from the lead 58 to the lead 59 via the wire 60, the motor 8 and the wires 61, 62 and 63, thus causing the rotation of the frame 1 in a clockwise direction from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the dotted line position indicated at A.

When the frame 1 arrives at the position A the contact bar 46 engages the contacts 50 and 51, thus causing a' flow of current through the windings 23'and 43. This flowof currentfrom the lead;58 to-the lead 59 occurs through the wires 60 nd 64, the 5p'lafie t e 7 55, the contacts 56 and 57, the wire 6 contacts 50 and, 5 1" and the wires 66, 67," 68, 69 and 63, the windings 43 and 23 being arparent by inspection. This flow of current causes the release of-the clutch shownin Fig.

2, and the engagement of the clutch, shown .inFi 4, so that theimotor operates only the vi rator.

Themovement of the switch 53 to the new A traLposition shown, cutsofi the current to rangedin parallel as will readilybe apmovement of the switch 53 to the right causes the reversal, of the motor, the current v at such time flowing from the lead 58 to the lead 59 via the wire 61, motor 8, Wire 70,

contact 47, plate 45, contact 48,and wire 71,

sothat the frame 1 is swung in a counterclockwise direction until the parts reach the position shown 1n Fig. 7, at which time the contact plate 45 is moved out of contact with the contact members 47 and 48 and the supply of current to the motor thus automatically cut off.

of said frames and driven by the motor.

tilting the lift paratus, pivoted 2. In combination in vacuum lifting apparatus, a supporting frame, a lifting frame pivoted thereto and provided with vacuum lifting means, a motor carried by one of said frames, and means driven by the motor for vibrating the lifting frame in a horizontal plane. V i

3. In combination in vacuum lifting apparatus, a supporting frame, a lifting frame pivoted thereto and provided with vacuum liftingmeans, a motor and connectionsfor tilting the lifting frame, and a vibrator driven by said motor.

In combination in vacuum lifting apparatus a supporting frame, a lifting frame pivoted thereto and provided with vacuum lifting means, a motor and connections for ing frame, a clutch in said connections, a vibrator driven by said motor, and means for releasing the clutch.

5. In combination in vacuum lifting apasupporting frame, a lifting frame thereto and provided with vacuum lifting means, an electric motor for tilting the supporting frame, and means for autoto the motor when the lifting frame reaches a substantially vertical position.

6. ,In combination in vacuum lifting aplifting means,

paratus, a supporting frame, a lifting frame pivoted thereto and provided with vacuum lifting means, a motor and connections for tilting the lifting frame, a clutch in said connections, and means operated by the movement of the lifting frame for disconnecting the said clutch when the lifting frame reaches substantially a horizontal position'. V

7. In combination in vacuum lifting apparatus a supporting frame, a lifting frame pivoted thereto and provided with vacuum a motor and connections for tilting the lifting frame, a clutch in said connections, a vibrator, a second clutch connection between the motor and vibrator, and means operated by the movement of the lifting frame for throwing out the first clutch and throwing in the second clutch when the lifting frame arrives at substantially a horizontal position.

8. In combination in vacuum ,lifting apparatus, a supporting frame, a lifting frame pivotedthereto and provided with vacuum lifting means, an electric motor for tilting the supporting frame, and means operated by the movement of the lifting frame for cutting off the supply of current to the m0- tor when the lifting frame reaches its upright position.

9. In combination in vacuum liftin apparatus, a supporting frame, a lifting ramc pivoted thereto and provided with vacuum lifting means, a motor-E and connections for tilting the lifting frame, a clutch in said connections, a vibrator driven by said motor, a second clutch between the motor and vito brator, and means for operating the said clutches.

10. In combination in vacuum lifting apparatus, a supporting frame, a lifting frame pivoted thereto and provided with vacuum lifting means, a motor and connections for tilting the lifting frame, 'a vibrator driven matically cutting ofi" t 'e supply of current b y the motor and a releasable clutch between the motor and vibrator.

' HALBERT K. HITGHCOCK.

WILLIAM J. GOLIGHTLY. 

